Grad Day
by varsitylove16
Summary: Valerie Leilani Sparrk never thought that this day would actually come... Transformers/Iron Man mix
1. Preface

_Edit: Oops! I almost forgot the disclaimer._

_Transformers in no way belongs to me whatsoever. _

_Enjoy! =)_

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Preface_

Valerie Leilani Sparrk never thought that this day would actually come.

The Mayan calendar ended on the day December 21, 2012. Many people thought that the day marked the end of the world, the date that all mankind would be slaughtered and terminated. Others thought of the day as a breakthrough for all society, a revolution. Websites, forums, and books each claimed different outcomes for the human race, from flourishing to perishing; phenomenon or apocalypse.

Valerie just ignored all the rumors, and even laughed a little at them. It wasn't like the Earth was going to just – _poof _– disappear. In her mind, life would just resume like it normally did, besides the rumor-freaks being disappointed about the universe not collapsing into nothing.

Another explosion sounded, trembling the ground beneath her feet, and shaking her mind out of her thoughts. Valerie looked into the sorrowful eyes of her beloved before looking back through the grimy window. A warm, stray tear fell from her eye and streaked down her cheek. Her love wiped the tear away with his thumb and pulled her into a much needed embrace. He shushed her, singing a soft and soothing harmony into her ears. Valerie nuzzled her head into his neck and let the sobs come forward freely.

She was partially right. The annihilation of Earth and its people had come early.

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~*~

_Reviews are much appreciated. The update is on its way!_


	2. Flashback

_Oh. My. Gosh. I am **so** sorry!! My brain seriously has not been functioning over the past few weeks/months. Go ahead and yell at me. I deserve it.  
For the first part, I used the song "The Dance" by Garth Brooks to get into the sad feeling to type it. Thank you **Katanagirl16 **for recommending it!  
Still don't own Transformers. Or Garth Brooks. XD  
Enjoy =)_

~*~_  
_

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_

_Chapter One_

**_September 29, 2008_**

_Why did this happen?_

Valerie clutched the four bouquets of Forget-Me-Nots closer to her chest as she made her way down the gravelly path.

_How did this happen?_

Slowly and delicately, the twelve year old placed the bunches of baby blue flowers in front of each of the four gravestones. She stepped back and just stared at the graves, feeling completely numb.

_How could this happen?_

Val quietly murmured the engraved words and dates on the headstones to herself. "Ronald Witwicky; February 26, 1960 - September 24, 2008. Judy Witwicky; June 4, 1960 - September 24, 2008. Samuel Witwicky; June 11, 1990 - September 24, 2008. Mikaela Banes; May 16, 1990 - September 24, 2008." The teen bit her quivering lip and drew in a deep breath of the cemetery's stale air. It smelled like musty dirt. The four people she loved the most, all suffering horrible fates, all dead. Tears began to well up in her cinnamon colored eyes as she knelt next to the first two markers. Val lightly stroked the tops of each slab of marble, her heart wrenching in agony. "Hey Uncle Ron; Aunt Judy. I brought you both some flowers. I thought you might like them, since you loved your yard and garden so much." Both deceased due to the house fire. The teen wiped a tear from her cheek and moved to the second set of graves. "Hi Sam. Hi Mikaela," she murmured, her bottom lip trembling even more. "I miss you guys _so much_. It... It _hurts_..." Both murdered. Val covered her face with her hands and tried to bite back the sobs. Their deaths had hit her the hardest. Sam and Mikaela were her best friends, her siblings, her advisers. They helped Val overcome all obstacles, including her mother' and father's deaths when she moved to Tranquility in the fall of 2007. Brokenhearted and confused, Sam and Mikaela quickly took Val under their wings, giving her all the comfort they could. They were her backbone, her only support, and now they were gone.

She had the horrifying burden of witnessing their demise. The teen gazed at the gravestones, a deep pain coming from within her chest, and closed her eyes. The memory of the couple getting hit by the lethal silver car suddenly sparked in her mind, replaying over and over again. Sam and Mikaela's bloody corpses rolling off the car's hood, leaving deep red splatters on the silver paint. Their faces were frozen with expressions of horror...

Val quickly opened her brown oculars and realized she was crying. She sniffled and wiped her face with her shirt's sleeve. '_No crying,' _she thought, scolding herself. _'You've got to be strong.'_ The teen glanced over her shoulder at the sunny Camaro parked just a few yards away. She couldn't help but crack a half-hearted grin; it looked so out of place in the gloomy cemetery. With a tight smile, Val turned to face Sam's grave and said, "Thanks for passing your car down to me, Sam. I promise to take extra good care of it."

"Are you ready to go, Val?"

With one last pat on the grave, Val stood up and solemnly made her way back to the golden yellow sports car and her new foster father.

~*~

_**June 3, 2012**_

"Why don't you drive your Lamborghini? Or your Tesla Roadster?"

Val raised a single finely waxed eye brow before sliding on her aviator sunglasses. "Because neither are golden yellow with black stripes _or _Camaros," she stated, grabbing the keys from the dusty workbench in the garage. Tony Stark sighed and shook his head as he watched his adopted daughter get into the Camaro."I swear you're attached to that thing," he mumbled to himself. "Don't you want to give it a break?" Val giggled and patted the dashboard. "Are you concerned that my car is tired? I'm pretty sure my baby can handle a few laps around the track," she said with a smirk. Tony stepped back from the car, still shaking his head. "Fine; go. Just don't crash. Oh, and if you need anything, I'll probably be in my lab. Just remember to _knock_ before you just come in," he grumbled, leaving out the 'or else' at the end. Val flashed him with a thumbs up before rolling up the car window and taking off down the Stark mansion's driveway.

The seventeen year old sunk deeper into her seat and switched on the radio. Seventeen Forever by Metro Station started flowing out of the speakers. She started bobbing her head to the beat, smiling when she saw the speedometer hit 100 mph.

Racing was definitely one of Val's favorite hobbies. The adrenaline rush and thunderous rumbling of car engines was exhilarating. That, and the fact that she got to drive cars that were worth more than most people could earn in ten years. Yeah, it was definitely a favorite.

Tony Stark's personal racing circuit slowly came into view. Some kind of car was circling the track at incredible speeds. Val squinted her eyes, trying to figure out who was on the track. She turned down the stereo and rolled her window down, straining to hear mystery car's engine. A soft purring sound filled the interior of the Camaro. "Audi R8," she murmured to herself, rolling up the window once more. The teen grinned. "Let's see if this guy wants to race." Val accelerated towards the track, pulling onto it right behind the Audi. The silver car slowed down until it was right next to Val. The teen tried to peer into the car's windows, but they were darkly tinted. '_Who _is _this dude?' _she thought, then shrugged. "Ready to put this guy to shame?" she muttered to the dashboard.

Without hesitation, Val pressed the pedal until it hit the floor. The engine roared furiously as her Camaro flew past the Audi. The teen smirked as she watched the mystery car disappear from her rear view mirror. _'What a suc-- What the frick?!'_ Val watched with wide eyes as the Audi passed her up, a silver streak on the black racing circuit. She checked her speedometer and gaped. If she was going 250 mph, how fast was this guy _going_?

The Audi pulled up behind her, almost ramming into her bumper. A bluish light emitted from the car's headlights and seemed to scan the back of the Camaro. "What the _hell?!"_ screeched Val. The Audi suddenly turned and sped away, driving off-road. Val jammed on the brakes and stared at the receding figure of the silver car. Frustrated and confused, the teen punched the steering wheel and let out a stream of colorful curses.

After a few minutes of steaming and swearing, Val took a deep breath and stared at the dashboard. "Sorry about that," she grumbled. The teen rested her forehead on the wheel and sighed. _'Who the heck _was _that?' _It couldn't have been her foster father because the license plate was wrong... Val growled. Mysteries always bugged the crap out of her.

"Maybe Tony will know who he was," she mused. Val shrugged and started heading back to the mansion. _'It won't hurt to ask...'_

_

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_

~*~

_How was it? I know, it's a short chapter. I'm sorry! _

_So Val was adopted by the Witwickys because her parents died (explanation coming later), Ron, Judy, Sam, and Mikaela are dead, Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) adopted Val, and a mysterious Audi R8 raced Val before disappearing. _

_And DON'T WORRY. **The Transformers are coming in the next chapter**, I promise. Please review! =)  
_


	3. Discoveries

_Gah. I'm ashamed of myself. I suck at updating. I'm sorry! *goes into emo-corner* Now that summer is here, I'm gonna update as fast as possible! WARNING: I'm going on vacation soon, Thursday to be exact, and I will be gone for ten freakin days. So that will be an issue... Anyways, here's Chapter Two. Don't own Transformers. **And THANK YOU FANTASYADDICT101 for letting me use your quote!!!! I love you! (no homo) Her quote will be in italics and bold. **  
Enjoy =)_

_~*~_

* * *

_Chapter Two_

"Dad? Daaaad? Tony?" called out Val, skittering down the stairs to her foster father's workshop. "Yoo-hoo! Anyone home?" The teen noticed the sliding glass door was unlatched and furrowed her eyebrows. _'That's weird... He never leaves the door unlocked.'_ She rapped on the door three times before calling out, "Hello?"

No answer.

Val glanced over her shoulder before hesitantly opening the door and stepping inside. "Whoa..." she breathed. The vast area was filled with high tech equipment, all foreign to Val. She slowly walked around the lab, ogling all of her foster father's intricate work. Advanced pieces of machinery were strewn over counters and work tables, some gleaming under the lab's lights, others concealed by cloths. Val resisted the urge to peek under the pieces of fabric, despite her curiosity. If Tony found out she was in his workshop _and_ peeking into his projects, he'd be _insanely_ pissed off.

Somewhat irked, Val started to try and guess her foster father's location as she shuffled out of the messy lab.

'_Now, where would he b--'_

The echoed sound of heavy footsteps stopped the teen dead in her tracks. Val's brown eyes widened significantly as a surge of fear rippled up her spine. She whipped her head around towards the sound and gasped at the sight. A crimson red and gold cyborg stood in the doorway of the hangar, his form tense and slightly defensive. His body consisted of smooth armor plating, hinges, and joints. The palms of his hands and the center of his chest each shone with a brilliant blue-white light, the flare reflecting off of his polished armor. Val recognized the figure instantly.

Iron Man.

"Oh my God," Val whispered under her breath. She stared into his slit 'eyes', unable to look anywhere else.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked in a demanding tone. The brunette teen cringed, noticing his hands, chest, and eyes brightening. Iron Man waited a few moments before realizing that Val wasn't going to answer him. He grunted. "Val, I'm not going to ask you again. Why are you in my lab?"

If possible, the teen's eyes widened even more. "B-But this is my d-dad's lab," she squeaked. Iron Man sighed and put his hand to his face. Before Val could question what he was doing, he removed his face plate and revealed the visage of her foster father.

The teen clamped a hand over her gaping mouth and gripped the edge of a workbench for support. _'Iron Man is my... dad?' _The ruby red and gold armored man took a few steps towards her. "Valerie Leilani Stark,_ answer me_," he demanded. Val's face paled; she'd recognize that scolding tone anywhere. _'Oh fuck, he is my dad.'_ Tony clenched his metallic fists and looked away from his adopted daughter. "Know what? Just _get out_," he barked.

Val slowly shook her head, her eyes refusing to leave his form. She let her hand drop from her face and let out a peep of shock. "You're Iron Man... And you never told me?" she questioned. Tony's fists tightened even more. "Get out before I do something we'll _both _regret," he hissed. Val ignored her foster father and inched closer towards him. "You're a super-hero and you've never even bothered to _tell me_?" she snapped.

Val's vision blanked for a second before she found herself on the ground, a searing pain radiating from her nose. She whimpered and raised a shaky hand to her injured face. Deep red blood dribbled down from a gash on the bridge of her nose. The bodily fluid dripped onto the lab floor, creating a small puddle of blood. Tony stared back at her, angry lines engraved in his sullen face. His expression softened a bit when he saw Val's wide eyes. He stammered. "Shit, Val. I…"

"You punched me," she whispered, her voice barely audible. Val touched her bloody nose and yelped. It was definitely broken, maybe even shattered for all she knew. Tony stepped towards her, concern etched on his face. "G-Get away!" whimpered Val, then in a stronger voice, "Get away from me!" She scrambled onto her feet and began to hastily run away. Tony held out a hand, crying, "Val, wait!"

His plea went ignored as he watched the teen rush out of his lab.

A loud crashing sound emitted from the lab, startling Val and causing her to stumble on the stairs. She fell and banged her knee against the corner of the last stair. A yelp escaped her lips as she pushed herself back up. Pepper appeared at the top of the stairs. "What's wrong, Va—Oh God, your nose…" she gaped. Val pushed her out of the way, leaving a bloodied hand print on Pepper's white blouse.

"Val! Val, wait!"

Tears streaming down her face, the teen continued to sprint down the hallway. She tried to concentrate, despite the throbbing pain in her head. _'Get to the car, and get the fuck out of here.'_ The rhythmic thumping of her footsteps echoed throughout the empty hallway as her socked feet padded on the hardwood floor. Val barreled through the door of the garage and swiped the keys off the workbench. She wasted no time in getting into her dark gray Lamborghini, hastily slamming the door behind her.

Pepper appeared at the doorway, appearing completely frazzled. "Val! Wait!" she cried once again. The teen ignored her call and left the smell of burnt rubber in the secretary's wake. Pepper watched as the smoky gray car tore down the pathway. "Please, be safe," she murmured to herself.

~*~

Val stomped on the gas pedal until it was smashed to the floor. Her whole body trembled with shock, dismay, and hatred.

Tony had hit her. He _broke _her nose_._

The teen's vision fogged from the tears, the road becoming just a blur of colors. Her chest started heaving with heavy sobs, her arms jerking from the movement. "All this time, you were Iron Man; a fucking superhero," Val squeaked to herself, "And you never told me."

She rapidly blinked to rid her eyes of the tears, but the cloudiness never ceased. Her brown oculars started to sting, along with the laceration on her nose. Val let out a weak attempt of a laugh. "A fucking superhero," she mumbled to herself.

A shiny object on her left attracted her attention. The teen rubbed her eyes and tried to figure what was causing the glare. The silver object took a form: an Audi R8. Val moaned. It was either her foster father or that freak from the track chasing after her. "Great. Just what I need," she mumbled in a sarcastic tone.

The Audi pulled up beside her and began to swerve in its lane, almost sideswiping Val's Lamborghini. The teen shrieked and veered to the right, avoiding the incoming car. She snuck a heated glance at the Audi and forgot about the road for a moment.

There was no driver.

Val's jaw dropped as adrenaline started to pump in her veins. _'Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy _fucking_ shit!'_ Her breathing sped up, and her hands began to tremble. "H-How…" she trailed off and continued to stare at the self-driving car. The teen was oblivious as the Audi drifted away from the Lamborghini, leaving about a ten- to fifteen- foot gap between them. Val shook her head and turned to face the road. _'Focus on driving,'_ she reminded herself. Her breathing slowed almost back to normal and the trembling eased away. Every few seconds, she would glimpse at the possessed car out of the corner of her eye. It continued to drift away some more. Val relaxed a little, but proceeded to stay wary of the silver Audi.

A flash of yellow in the rear view mirror caught her attention, diverting her gaze from the Audi. When she looked back up, Val saw the silver car coming directly at her, ready to ram her. She froze, terrified; unable to scream and unable to move.

Val squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the impact. Five seconds passed and… nothing.

After a moment of hesitation, the teen blinked and looked out the window. A golden yellow Camaro was driving alongside her, blocking the continuous ramming of the Audi. Val took a closer look and noticed a small heart pendant hanging from the Camaro's rear view mirror. "You've got to be _shitting_ me," she muttered. The teen watched as her car continued to serve as a blockade between herself and the Audi.

Just when Val thought things couldn't get any more inconceivable, the silver Audi _transformed_. She slammed on the brakes and stared at the whirling gears, the shifting metal plates… The car basically rearranged itself right in front of her eyes.

What once was a silver Audi R8 was now a giant android. The monster stood before her gray Lamborghini, its knifelike fingers twitching in what seemed to be anticipation. Val's breath came out in short, frightened gasps, her chestnut colored eyes widening. She ogled the mechanical beast, noticing all of its jagged edges and flaming red-orange eyes. For a moment, she couldn't look anywhere besides the robot's crimson red optics… until it lunged for her.

The monster sprung forward, baring its razor-sharp teeth. Val screamed as loud as she possibly could and ducked down. The sound of metal on metal rang in her ears at an uncomfortably high decibel. The teen took a daring chance and peeked through the Lamborghini's windshield. Another robot, a yellow one, was fighting the Audi bot. The two behemoths exchanged vicious punches and blows, throwing each other around. The asphalt crumbled beneath their enormous weight. Chunks of the road flew up and scattered everywhere, some bouncing off the Lamborghini. One particularly large piece slammed into the windshield, cracking it on contact. Val squeaked and ducked once more. Her body quivered with utter fear as strong vibrations rocked the gray car on its tires.

**_"It's true that I've learned to always be ready for death, and that I've learned to accept it and I know what it entails. But if Death came knocking on my door one day, I'd do what anyone would do: I'd high-tail it in the opposite direction." _**

Never in her life had Val thought about how true those words really were. "Damn it, Emily. Why did you have to be right?" Something smashed the back of the Lamborghini, causing the car's front end to lift a good three to five feet in the air before plummeting back to the ground. Val shrieked at the unexpected movement and clutched the steering wheel. Tears began to fall from her terrified eyes as she realized the odds of her escaping this situation alive. "I don't wanna die," she whimpered. The teen thought about the goals she never achieved, the people she never got to meet, and the things she never got to do.

And apparently, she never would get the chance to accomplish any of them.

The golden yellow behemoth was kicked by the silver monster, sending Goldie skidding straight towards her Lamborghini. She watched in silent dread as the sunny-colored robot glided right at her, approaching at a swift pace. The thing looked at her with distraught cerulean optics before ripping at the ground, attempting to stop its uncontrollable sliding. Val panicked and grabbed the door handle, trying to yank it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Son of a bitch! No! NO!" The teen desperately kicked at the door, but it still wouldn't give. In a last attempt to protect herself, Val pulled her knees up to her chest and curled up into a tight ball.

The last thing she heard was a static-laden 'No!'

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~*~

_Comments? Flames? Criticism? All accepted! _

_Summary: Val went to find her foster father, but it turns out he is Iron Man (pretend Tony didn't announce he was Iron Man at the end of the movie). He punches her out of spite, so she runs away in her Lamborghini. Sideways chases after her, and Bumblebee comes in to save the day. Bee and Sideways begin to fight, but the Autobot is kicked away and sent skidding towards Val, who is trapped in her car. _

_You likey the cliffhanger? =D  
_

_I suck at summaries. xD Thanks again fantasy!! Well, that's all I got for now. Off to work on Chapter Three! Please review!  
_


	4. Harsh Words

_Hey! I got this out faster than usual! :D I know, still fragging slow. My vacation is over *cries* but whatever. I was going through major computer withdrawals._

_Nope. Don't own the Transformers. *sniffles* Oh, or Iron Man.  
_

_Enjoy =)  
_

~*~

* * *

_Chapter Three_

'_Light… too… bright…'_

Val moaned and draped a hand over her closed eyes. Her wrist bumped against her nose, causing a jolt of pain to spread throughout her face, and she let out a small shriek. The teen quickly pulled the offending appendage away and groaned once more. _Everywhere_ ached; her head, her arms, her legs, and a bunch of places she didn't even remember the names for. _'The hell did I do? Drive into the house or something?'_ She tried to recall what had happened earlier, but came up blank. Val tried a few times, but gave up after her head began to ache. The last thing she could remember was running down the halls of the Stark mansion, into the garage and then jumping into her gray Lamborghini. Everything else was just a blur. _'Maybe I hit my head on the car... Not like that's never happened before...'_

"If you can hear me, please respond."

Something blocked the sun's rays, allowing Val to peep her eyes open. A man, about eighteen or so years old, peered back at her with an anxious look on his face. His short, golden blond hair was gelled into a small faux hawk, a jet black stripe running from the front of his hair to the back . He had unnaturally bright blue eyes that seemed to glow against his semi-tan skin. His build was muscular, but not in a 'he takes steroids' way.

Her first thought was definitely hormone-ruled: _'Hot damn, he is fine!'_

Val tried to shake her head, but ended up miffing her neck. She let out a another short cry, startling the young man. Small creases in his forehead formed; worry lines. And they were adorably cute. He looked around the car and began tugging on the door handle. "I'm going to try and get you out, okay?" he asked. Val gave him a flimsy thumbs up, and he proceeded to yank at the door.

It wouldn't move. He put his Nike-clad foot, custom shoes that were golden yellow and black as well, against the side of the car and began to pull, but it _still_ wouldn't budge.

After a few more minutes of grunting and pulling, the guy gave up. "Damn it," he muttered. Val couldn't help but giggle at his pouting face.

"What?" he asked, confused by her unexpected snickering. Val slightly shrugged. "You look cute when you're all pouty."

The blond paused before grinning at the comment and gave the car door one last tug before slumping against the broken window. "Looks like you're going to be stuck in here for a while," he sighed. Val smiled. "We might as well get to know each other while help comes," she said, attempting to be somewhat flirty. The man cocked a single eyebrow in response.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

Val pursed her lips before smiling some more. "Let's start off with names. I'm Valerie, but you can call me Val. And you are…"

"Bee."

The blond noticed her confused visage and quickly added, "It's short for, uh... Benjamin."

~*~

Tony changed out of his crimson suit with some help from Jarvis, and bounded out of the lab. He quickly walked down the hall to Val's room and gently nudged the door open. "Val?"

"Valerie has departed from the mansion."

Tony cursed before responding to Jarvis. "Do you know where she went?"

"She drove down the southern exit."

"Which car did she take?"

"She left in her gray Lamborghini."

"_Son of a_—Okay," said Tony as he took a deep breath, "Get my suit ready again, please."

"Yes, Mr. Stark."

~*~

Flying through the air, Tony searched for any sign of his adopted daughter or her car. "Why couldn't she have taken Bumblebee instead of the damn Lamborghini?" he grumbled to himself. Then he remembered the conversation he had with Val before she left in the Camaro earlier that morning.

_"Why don't you drive your Lamborghini? Or your Tesla Roadster?"_

The man mumbled some more cuss words.

Tony caught sight of a golden flash and headed towards it. He noticed a smoking pile of metal beside Bumblebee's alt. mode and prayed it wasn't what he thought it was. The iron-clad man landed beside the wreckage and just stared at it, shocked and terrified. The Lamborghini was barely recognizable. All of its windows were shattered, the back end was crushed by a hefty piece of asphalt, and it looked like Optimus Prime had sat on the front end of the car. Tony saw Bumblebee's holoform back away from the driver's side before disappearing.

From behind, Iron Man could hear Bumblebee transforming from a Camaro into his bipedal mode. "What the hell happened?!" he demanded. The Autobot cringed at Tony's angry tone and hesitantly walked over to his side.

"Sideways attacked."

Tony looked up expectantly at Bumblebee. "And?"

"He kicked me into Val's car and retreated."

"So he got away?"

Bumblebee paused and looked down at his mechanical feet. "…Yes."

Boiling with anger, Tony's jaw tightened as he realized one more thing. Through clenched teeth, he asked, "Where is Val?" The Autobot morosely pointed at the twisted scrap metal that was previously a Lamborghini. Before Tony could say anything, Bumblebee quickly stated, "I couldn't get her out." The man looked up sharply at the mech. Most people would shit their pants right then and there if glared at like that. The scout, brave as he was, didn't even flinch. "How _fucking_ hard is it to open a _fucking_ door?" he shouted. Bumblebee's expression hardened at his words. "I tried with my _holoform_. I didn't want to frighten her anymore by transforming since she was already scared half to death by the skirmish between me and Sideways," he asserted, a bit of irritation audible in his calm tone. "And wouldn't you think that having a mech prying her car door open just _might_ give her a spark-- heart attack?"

Tony considered the possibility, but his mask gave him the appearance of permanent indifference. "That is a somewhat valid point, but still! Getting her out of the vehicle would have made more sense! I thought you robots would at least have _some _God damn common sense!"

Either Bumblebee completely ignored his comment or he somehow hadn't heard the iron man. Tony was pretty damn sure that it was the former. As he approached the still smoking car, the multimillionaire noticed that there was no movement coming from within. Worried, he quickened his pace and peered inside the car's shattered window.

Val lay motionlessly in the front seat.

"What did you do to her?!" demanded Tony. Bumblebee walked over and knelt down. "She passed out right when you came. My best guess is shock," stated the scout.

Without warning, Iron Man ripped the door off the car and threw it somewhere behind him. The piece of scrap metal skid against the asphalt, creating red hot sparks that jumped all around it, before slowing to a painful stop. "Why didn't you tell me she fainted?" asked Tony, voice taking on an aggressive edge. "Her vitals are fine," replied Bumblebee, "She is quite stable, just tired and with a few minor injuries, but she should recover from them. I believe we should take her in to Ratchet for a full analysis, though; just to be sure."

Tony let out a sharp breath. "Fine, but I ride with her."

Bumblebee nodded his approval and folded back down into his Camaro form. It took a few moments for Tony to gently transfer Val from the Lamborghini to the Camaro. He took a spot next to Val and started to reach out for the door. The scout made sure to slam it before the man could touch it.

* * *

~*~

_I give up on the summaries. Too damn lazy. xD_

_Okay, my chapters are being all wonky, some short, some long, etc. Is that okay with everyone? Because I wrote up an original plan/plot sheet a while ago and I didn't realize how the chapters would cutoff at different lengths and blah blah. _

_...Does that make any sense to you?_

_Ah well. Please review! :)  
_


	5. Injuries

_These updates are coming out faster... :D Or, at least it seems like they are to me. *shrugs* Meh. I noticed that I've made Iron Man seem like a total asshole, but I don't really know his character all too well. If anyone wants to complain about it to me, I'll accept the criticism with a smile. *puts on phony smile* Whatever. Oh! And I used the first part of the beautiful instrumental 'All Spark' by Steve Jablonsky as my inspiration for the beginning of this chapter:)  
_

_Just borrowing all of them yet again._

_Enjoy =)_

~*~

* * *

_Chapter Four_

Val slowly regained consciousness. The fingers on her right hand twitched before closing into a limp fist. Everything hurt even more than before. Val just _knew_ her whole body would be one giant bruise if she looked in a mirror.

Her first coherent thought: _'Fuck my life.'_ Her second: _'Where am I?'_

The teen let her head flop to the side. With much determination and effort, she barely got her eyes open. Gleaming and intricate pieces of metal were laid upon a table next to the one she was lying on. They seemed to be at least three times her size. Beyond those, humongous vats of some mysterious liquid were lined up against the walls. The pink fluid glowed eerily in the dark of the side of the room.

Where ever she was, it was hot, and she never liked hot. Val tried to push herself up into a sitting position, but a sharp pain shot up from her shoulder. The teen shrieked and collapsed back onto the warm table. Gnashing her teeth together, she rolled onto her right side, clutching her stinging left shoulder tightly with her right hand. The pain was searing her whole left upper torso.

Val managed to open her eyes once again. Electric blue lights glowed upon her, almost mesmerizing. To her horror, it turned out the lights were eyes, eyes that were peering right back at her. The teen screamed as loud as she could, pure terror running through her veins. The owner of the mysterious orbs jumped back, either shocked or afraid.

Seeing that it was distracted, Val took the opportunity to force herself up on her feet and run away. Jolts of excruciating pain surged from her shoulder and knee, but she did her best to ignore them. The teen limp-jogged away as fast as her crippled body would allow her to. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder at the spherical eyes. They were still watching her.

The ground beneath Val's feet seemed to disappear, and as she looked down, she began to scream again. She had run right off the table. The sensation of falling only increased the volume of her shrieking, fear overwhelming the teen. Her life didn't flash before her eyes, just the rapidly approaching ground. _'Liars…' _A hand, a giant_ robot_ hand, replaced her view of the floor and softly caught her. The impact still knocked the air out of her, but it was surprisingly soft for metal. The hand slowly lifted her and gingerly placed her back on top of the table.

Iron Man rushed to her side and knelt beside her. "Val, Val! It's alright," he reassured, "They won't hurt you, I promise." The teen was visibly shaking in fear as she clutched to the crimson armor. "W-what's going on?" she stammered. The man held his adopted daughter closer to his chest. "These are the Autobots. They're here to help us," he murmured. Val glanced at his armored helmet. "Auto… bots?"

"Yes. It is short for autonomous robotic organisms."

Val jumped at the unfamiliar voice. It was very deep, and had a noble, or even regal, hint to it. The speaker stepped forward, and nodded at her. _'Oh my God…' _It was the biggest thing she had ever seen. Scratch that. It was the biggest _living_ thing she had ever seen. The speaker was made up of scratched red and blue armor, silver circuitry and who knows what peeking out from beneath. He, assuming he was male due to his voice, was a mechanical giant. "Hello Valerie," he greeted. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." He stepped back and motioned towards the two Autobots behind him.

The first one was a lime green color, accented with bits of bright red. It had black bars and lights on its chest. "This is our medic, Ratchet." Optimus Prime's booming voice permeated the silence. Ratchet's cobalt blue optics began to glow brightly, almost to the point of being white. "She has dislodged her shoulder, severely bruised her knee, broken her nose, obtained multiple minor cuts and bruises, and suffered slight shock and some head trauma," observed the medic. Val just blinked at him. He noticed her confused stare and sighed. "You should be fine after two weeks of medical treatment from me." She just continued to stare with her wide brown eyes.

"And this is Bumblebee, your appointed guardian," stated Optimus as he gestured towards a much smaller Autobot. This one was clad in yellow and black armor, and had no mouth like the other two. It looked more like scuba gear, or even a baby's pacifier.

Val flinched as an information overload flowed into her mind. She remembered everything now; the fight with her dad, driving away, and the two robots fighting. One of which was Bumblebee, who was apparently her guardian.

Prime's words suddenly clicked in the teen's head. She craned her neck up to look at the massive being and hesitantly stuttered, "G-Guardian?" Tony responded first. "He's kinda like your own personal bodyguard, except better." Bumblebee nodded. Val gave him an apprehensive look in return. He blinked. _"Hey! We didn't choose this, John, it chose us. And there's nothing either of us can do about it. __My __job__ is __to __protect__ you__. And __you__ can hate me as much as __you__ want, but I will keep doing this as long as I'm here."_ Sarah Conner's voice stated through the small Autobot's speakers. Val tilted her head to the left and stared up at the bot with curious eyes. "He likes to use quotes or songs from movies and the radio," explained Ratchet. He seemed uninterested, as if tiny humans like her asked him that question all the time. "So… he can't talk?" asked the teen, eyeing Bumblebee. "I can. It's just not as fun," said her guardian, shrugging. Val slightly smiled; he liked fun. That was good.

Optimus Prime began to speak again. "You will be able to meet the others at another time. For now, Ratchet has requested that you stay in the med bay and rest your injuries."

"How many others are there?" asked Val.

"Two."

"So… there are five of y—er—five _Autobots_ in total?"

Optimus nodded. "That is correct."

The teen frowned and pushed at Iron Man with her good arm. He leaned back a little. "What's wrong, Val?" he questioned. She looked at him in disbelief. "What's wrong? You've kept _them_ a secret, too?!" she yelled, pointing at Optimus. Tony sighed and started to reach out for Val. "Look, it was for your own—"

"Say 'good' or 'safety' and I will punch that mask right off of your face."

"Excuse me? What the _hell_ did you just say?" Bewilderment colored Tony's voice.

Val glared right back at him. "You heard me."

Iron Man roughly grabbed the teen's shoulders, causing her to yelp in pain. "You better get rid of that attitude, or I'll—" Val interrupted him again, crying, "You'll _what_? Punch me in the face again?!" Tears rolled down her cheeks as she began to sob. Tony let go of her shoulders and stood up, watching as his adopted daughter's chest heaved with each breath. He looked at her remorsefully, unsure of what to do. The three Autobots had remained silent throughout the exchange, but Tony could tell that they were giving him disapproving looks. "What else have you lied to me about? My _parents_? The _Witwickys_?" screamed Val. Tony clenched his fists. "You want to know what happened to them? Some of _these guys," _he yelled, pointing towards the Autobots, "Killed your parents _and_ the Witwickys! Happy now?!"

Val froze, as did the three Cybertronians. The teen looked up at the mechanical beings with wide, frightened eyes, the Autobots giving her expressions of shock in return. A little too late, Tony realized what he had said. "Wait, I didn't mean that," he said, sounding desperate. Optimus Prime and the others now looked offended by his previous words. Val ignored him and continued to stare up at the Autobots, Bumblebee in particular.

"You killed my parents?" she asked. Her voice was no louder than a breath, but everyone could perfectly hear what she had said.

The smallest Autobot quickly shook his head 'no'. Ratchet shifted forward. "We would never harm a human being," he stated firmly. Val visibly flinched from the medic and he backed away.

"I want out," squeaked the teen. "Out?" echoed Optimus Prime, uncertain of what she meant. "I want out of this… this place," stated Val in a shaky voice. Bumblebee began to reach out for her, stopping when she screamed, "Don't touch me!" His door wings drooped significantly. "There is a ladder located here," murmured the leader of the Autobots, pointing towards the corner of the giant table.

Val limped over to the ladder, refusing the offers for help she received from the Autobots and Iron Man. Going down the rungs hurt like a bitch, but there was no way she was going to let those murderers or that jerk touch her. She gave them one last glimpse before limping out the gargantuan door.

* * *

_Another one of these funky-length chapters DONE! :D Reviews are always loved. 'Thank you's are guaranteed in return. And I might R&R some/one of your stories, too. [If you've written any.] :)_


	6. Memories

_Tada! Chapter five. I don't really have much to say this time except... ONE WEEK! :D I think that's a new record for this story. xD _

_None of it's mine... As in NONE. Except Val. She belongs to me.  
_

_Enjoy =)_

~*~

* * *

_Chapter Five_

The sun was just beginning to dip down towards the horizon, leaving the sky a yellowish hue. A soft breeze gently swayed the tall grass of the look out. Little creatures skittered under the cover of the brush while others flew above it. The sunlight cast a golden glow over everything in sight.

It was the perfect place to relax.

Val sat up against the trunk of an old oak tree, content with just staring out at the rolling hills in the distance. Although she couldn't see it, Val knew that there was a small town right in front of the high cliff. It was her old hometown, the one she lived in before moving in with the Witwickys. Many years had passed since she stepped foot in that city, but she still vividly remembered everything; what her house looked like, how to get to the mall, how to avoid the corner house's demon dog.

She laughed at the memory of running up and down the street from the pit bull. It was scary as hell at the time, but now it just seemed funny to her. All the neighbors ran out of their houses to see what was going on; Ms. Renish even brought out a baseball bat. The owners of the dog had frantically apologized to Val afterward and even gave her a Jamba Juice gift card. She didn't like the place, but she accepted the gift with a smile. Val eventually ended up giving it to one of her friends.

The teen really missed those times. Before the death of her parents, she was just another carefree spirit. She would do whatever she felt like and not give a damn. Her friends would throw sleepovers every Friday night and they'd make their special popcorn; it was super buttery popcorn drizzled with dark chocolate syrup, pepper, and salt. Then they would play Truth or Dare, dance, and sing like there was no tomorrow. Those parties were amazing memories all in their own.

Her most treasured memory was of her best friend, Anthony. She secretly had a crush on him, but she knew better than to tell him. He was one of the most popular guys at school while she was pretty much just another normal girl. In first grade, Anthony had accidentally bumped into Val while he running during one of the recesses. He had asked her if she wanted to play, too, but she was so shy, she'd just stared at him. He had laughed and lightly tapped her shoulder. "You're it!" he had exclaimed before running away. After that, their friendship had grown with each year. It was definitely heart-breaking when she'd had to say goodbye to him. It took an hour for her to stop crying, all of which she was accompanied by Anthony. He'd held her in a friendly hug for all of that time, simply letting her cry on his shoulder while he murmured reassurances. She would never forget him and his beautiful smile.

Soft thumps alerted the teen of an approaching presence. She looked behind her and widened her brown eyes. Val struggled to get up on her feet again.

"Please don't be afraid," pleaded Bumblebee. The teen ignored the Autobot and continued to try to stand up. He sighed and stopped walking towards her.

"Sam and Mikaela were my best friends, you know."

That caught Val's attention. She turned to stare up at Bumblebee. The light bounced off his armor, giving him an angelic golden aura. His optics were transfixed on the sky. "How did you know them?" asked the teen in a soft tone. Bumblebee tore his gaze away from the horizon to look at Val. "Before you, I was appointed as guardian to Sam. It was my job to protect him and his great-great-grandfather's glasses," he said in a sorrowful tone. The teen glared up at the bot. "Well, you obviously did a crappy job 'cause he and Mikaela got hit by a fucking car!" Bumblebee glanced at the ground by his feet. "I know I failed. I was there," he whispered. Val blinked up at her guardian, confused. "I don't remember seeing a giant robot there," she said, half-sarcastic and half-serious. His turquoise optics flickered to meet her chestnut eyes. "Do you recall seeing a yellow Camaro with black stripes?" he inquired. The teen nodded.

"Yeah, that was Sam's car. What about…"

Her jaw slowly dropped as she gaped at the Autobot. "No way," she breathed. Bumblebee knelt to the ground and demonstrated his transforming ability. One second he was there, and the next, a familiar sunny yellow Camaro was in his spot. The small heart pendant was still hanging there on the rear view mirror. Val continued to gawk at him as he shifted back into his robotic form and stood to his full height.

Bumblebee peered down at Val and noticed that she was still ogling him. "I'm sorry. I didn't see Sideways until it was too late," he murmured in a soft tone. "It felt like my spark shattered when I saw…" He broke off mid-sentence and looked away quickly. Val felt a twinge of guilt in her heart and mumbled, "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean what I said earlier about you doing a… bad job. I just—"

Her guardian held up a hand, silencing her instantly. "It's okay. I can understand why you're upset with me," he said quietly. The teen shook her head. Her expression was one of regret and concern. "I really didn't mean that, though. I say things that I probably shouldn't all the time," she insisted. Val scooted closer to him as best as she could. Bumblebee noticed her movement and paused.

Very hesitantly, the yellow bot crouched down and held his hand out in front of her. Val did her best to conceal her recoil, but Bumblebee still saw it. He began to withdraw his hand, but the teen reached out to touch it.

"Wait."

He seemed considerably surprised to feel her small, warm palm on his armor. Bumblebee slightly smiled and carefully helped Val onto his extremity with his other hand. She was still wary of her guardian, but she tried not to show it. "If you don't mind me asking," she began, "What did you mean when you said it felt like your 'spark' shattered? And that you 'couldn't see sideways'?" The Autobot looked down at her. Val noticed that his optics were the same bright blue hue as the guy that tried to help her out of her car earlier. "Sparks are like our hearts and souls. They give us life and personality," he replied. "And Sideways is a Decepticon; the same one that attacked you earlier, actually."

"The same one you fought off," whispered Val. Bumblebee glanced down at her. "The same one that kicked me into your car and made me give you all your injuries," he muttered. The teen patted his thumb reassuringly.

"I don't blame you. Now what's a Decepticon?"

Bumblebee made a sound with his vents; it sounded very much like a sigh. "Might as well start from the beginning," he stated. "It might take a while to explain everything." Val situated herself in a comfortable position and simply said, "I have time. I'm already playing hooky from school." Bumblebee smiled and began to talk about Cybertron, the history of Cybertronians, and the big battle at Mission City.

~*~

The sun had set long ago, navy becoming the dominant color of the sky. Stars sprayed the heavens above, twinkling like little winking eyes. The only critters flying around were the occasional lightning bugs.

Val looked up into the glowing optics of her guardian, her own eyes displaying sadness. "So it was the Decepticons who… killed them?" breathed Val. Bumblebee solemnly nodded. "Your parents had found Tracks, another Autobot, who had landed here on Earth. We all thought he was killed by Blackout on Cybertron, but apparently not. He decided to stay with your parents for a while since he was tired of searching for the All Spark and, well, he was lonely, too."

Sighing, the teen looked up at the constellations above and spotted Orion's Belt. "Let me guess," she began, "Tracks was our Chevy Corvette?" Her guardian slowly nodded. "I believe that was the alternate form he took," said Bumblebee. Val leaned her head back onto a piece of the Autobot's golden yellow chest armor. "So what happened to them?" she whispered. It felt like she couldn't say it loudly without having her voice crack.

"What we believe is that Starscream hunted down Tracks and forced him to take cover in a nearby forest area. It was there that Starscream had annihilated him. He must have seen your parents as well and… rid himself of any witnesses," muttered Bumblebee, whispering the last part. "I'm sorry, Val."

Tears began to gather in Val's eyes as she stared at the night sky. So her parents were dead…

It wasn't long before she began to sob. Bumblebee began to gently rub her back with his finger as he softly played "Never Say Never" by The Fray. As time passed by, the song changed into Sara Groves's "It's Gonna Be Alright". Val's tears had subsided by now and her sobs were reduced to mere sniffling. When the song had ended, she was fast asleep in the Autobot's hand. Bumblebee smiled down at her resting form and began to head back to the base. He would never let anything happen to her again.

* * *

_So... How was it? Good? Bad? All feedback is welcome, including flames and critiques. Loves and laters! :)_


	7. First Encounter

_*guilty of ASSSLOW updates* I'm so so so sorry! Between school and soccer, I've had NO spare time. T.T_

_Transformers... Iron Man... Not mine.  
_

_Enjoy =)_

~*~

* * *

_Chapter Six_

Val absent-mindedly kicked a stray rock into one of the base's steel walls, a hollow _clank_ echoing throughout the corridor. The speckled gray pebble bounced off the wall and skidded forward a few more feet before coming to a slow stop. It could have blended in to the floor if it were just a few shades darker.

The teen sighed and glanced over her shoulder. Her guardian was staring back at her with curious blue optics.

"Are you going to—"

"I will, I will," interrupted Val. She had been standing outside of the rec room for about fifteen minutes, stalling and trying to gather enough courage to enter and confront Tony about her past. Bumblebee had tried to usher her inside, but she chickened out at the last possible moment every time. He gave up on that tactic and settled on just trying to encourage the teen with words.

Bumblebee sighed and placed his golden helm in his right hand. "You do want to know why he adopted you, correct?" he questioned. Val huffed and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "Yeah, but he's probably just going to give me a load of bull shit," she hissed. The golden yellow Autobot's vents whirred again as he replied, "Maybe, but you will never know if you don't go in there and ask."

After a few moments of contemplation and pure stubbornness, the teen finally resigned and pushed herself off of the metal wall. "Fine," she muttered, heading towards the gargantuan door. She paused about one foot away and took a deep breath. The giant metal slab began to slide open, releasing a quiet hiss. There was no going back now.

Iron Man was sitting on a couch, appearing to be deep in thought. The man's helmet was in his right hand, his elbow resting on the arm of the sofa. Val sharply exhaled and approached him cautiously.

"Why did you adopt me?"

The question seemed innocent enough, but it still caught the man off guard. He hesitated, trying to produce a viable answer, but couldn't come up with a simple or witty comeback. Val stared at him expectantly, waiting for Tony's response. Eventually, the man sighed and patted the microfiber cushion beside him. "Take a seat," he said, "It's story time."

The teen slowly walked around the charcoal-colored couch and sat on the very edge of the cushion, making it quite apparent that she didn't want to be anywhere near Iron Man at the moment. "I'm listening," she murmured.

Tony brushed off the minor insult and cleared his throat before beginning. "Right after the big battle in Mission City, which I assume you found out about from Bumblebee, the Autobots came across my name and requested that I help them. They were really interested in my arc reactor technology for some reason. When I asked why, they told me that the tech was very close to a key part of their anatomy," he explained, pausing for dramatic effect, "Their sparks. Optimus Prime was the one to tell me about Jazz and his… demise. He straight out said that _he_ was the main reason why they had approached me. The Autobots wanted to see if the arc reactor could bring Jazz back to life. The first time we toyed with it, the arc reactor just had the power to keep his systems functioning, but it couldn't get the personality part, which pretty much made Jazz a soulless drone. I've been tweaking with the thing ever since."

Val coughed, a discreet way to interrupt her foster father. "You haven't answered my question," she simply stated. Irritation was barely evident in her small voice. Tony frowned behind his mask. "I'm getting there," he insisted. "Now behave or you'll never know."

The teen slightly scowled, but otherwise didn't react. Tony took that as his cue to continue.

"So I visited the base pretty often, bringing in new versions of the arc reactor and going over them with Ratchet. Sam and Mikaela were usually here, too, visiting with Bee or whatever. I ran into the couple a lot and we had a bunch of small chats with each other. You came up in most of the conversations. The two would always talk about how sweet and innocent you were, how they felt _so_ bad for you, and blah, blah, blah," he trailed off making a yapping hand gesture. The man lowered his hand and sighed, taking on a serious edge. "When I heard about their deaths, I was pretty shocked… and devastated; _especially_ when I found out about Ron and Judy. I felt so… horrified about it. The Witwicky kid even had a scholarship to Princeton. But anyways, the officials were about ready to ship you off to some random orphanage in some God-forsaken place when I stepped in. I volunteered to adopt you, and that was that. You became my daughter, and I became your father."

At Val's stunned silence, he added, "Does _that_ answer your question?"

She slowly nodded, a semi-dazed look on her face as she let all that newfound information sink in. In truth, Val didn't know how to react. She felt the need to be angry, to be furious that he'd withheld all that precious data from her for a whole four years, but she couldn't bring herself to yell or glare or curse. So she stayed silent, quietly mulling over the information and painstakingly piecing it together in her head.

A distant explosion sounded and shook the floor, effectively halting Val's thoughts and sending her into a panic. The teen gasped and dug her fingers into the couch's black surface. Alarms began to sound, blaring throughout the base at an extremely loud decibel. Bumblebee rushed into the room, his battle mask down and his energy cannon charged. The mech held out his free hand for Val. "Decepticons are attacking. I need to get you to safety," he stated in a voice that belonged to a well-trained and seasoned soldier.

Val looked from the mechanical appendage to her guardian's intricate and metallic face. "W-What?" she stammered, brown eyes wide. She shrieked as she felt herself being lifted into the Autobot's palm. The teen looked over her shoulder and into the mask of Iron Man.

"Stay with Bumblebee. He'll keep you safe," he murmured, depositing the brunette in Bumblebee's awaiting hand. Tony gave Val one last sad glance before flying out the door, heading towards the explosions and shouts.

Bumblebee curled his fingers around Val's form and held her protectively to his chest as he began to run out another exit. "Wait. Where's Dad going?" asked Val, trying to peek through her guardian's metal digits. The scout dove into another more secluded corridor, holding out his pulse cannon and scanning for any Decepticons.

"He's going to help the others," replied the golden yellow Autobot. His electric blue optics flickered around, keeping watch for any movement in the dark shadows of the hall. "He's gonna fight the Decepticons?!" exclaimed Val. Tony was going to _die_ if he even attempted to fight those monsters! Bumblebee immediately shushed her and whispered, "Yes. Now please be quiet."

The teen noticed the hint of beseeching in the Autobot's static-laden voice and obeyed her guardian, staying silent in his grasp. She glanced through an opening between his fingers and saw that they were approaching another room. The doorway was glowing eerily with a reddish-pink hue.

"What is this place?" she asked, her voice very low.

Bumblebee cautiously peeked inside. "The energon storage room," he whispered back. "It's—"

The Autobot's optics widened as he saw a familiar and hostile figure lurking around the room. He immediately withdrew from the doorway and switched all his systems other than his battle-mode onto low power, effectively lowering the humming sound that was reverberating from within the bot. Val swallowed back a shriek and held on tightly to her guardian's hand, her knuckles turning white from the strain and stress. Her breaths began to hitch as she heard mechanical _thumps_ come closer and closer, the steady rhythm treacherous and intimidating. The teen's bottom lip began to tremble as the sound continued to grow in volume. Bumblebee remained deathly still, his engine completely silent.

The footfalls paused.

After about a minute of long and excruciatingly tense silence, Val quietly let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding.

A clawed hand suddenly reached around the door frame and latched on to Bumblebee's cannon, ripping and damaging key circuitry as it continued to dig its claws into the weapon. The Autobot screamed out in pain as the being dragged him inside the room. Val let out a strangled scream as she felt Bumblebee be brutally thrown into the back wall. The bot landed on his side, but kept Val concealed with his left hand.

Those dangerous footsteps began to approach once more, slowly and heavily this time. Victoriously. Viciously.

Clicks and electronic squeals filled the room. A short pause stretched on after the dial-up sound, then in whiny, scratchy English: "Where is the human?"

Val clamped a hand over her mouth, the extremity trembling greatly against the soft skin of her face. '_Oh God,'_ she thought. '_It's gonna kill me. It's gonna friggen kill me.'_

Bumblebee gave the creature a cold, hard stare, his blue optics burning with hatred. He retorted in a higher pitched mix of screeches and snaps, the tone making it sound malicious. The Autobot received a harsh chuckle in return from the unknown being. "Just give me the fleshling and I may spare your pitiful spark, _Autobot_," spat the other, impatience evident in his tone. Val's golden guardian remained silent, his grip on the teen ever so slightly tightening.

Val quietly shifted to the side, peering through a small crack in-between Bumblebee's metal fingers. A sharp and jagged creature, Cybertronian by the looks of it, was standing before them, a disgusted sneer on his facial plates. He had jet wings spurting from his sides, giving his torso a somewhat comical, triangular shape. The mech's legs were very bird-like, alien just like the rest of his body. He had the same searing crimson eyes as Sideways.

A triumphant grin formed on the being's face as he looked right at Val. The teen gasped and stumbled away from the opening, hiding behind her guardian's digits. '_Maybe it didn't see me. Maybe it just happened to glance over—'_

"Open your left servo, youngling," snapped the Cybertronian. A faint whine began to hum in the distance. "I have nothing, Starscream. Just leave," growled the ever persistent scout. Harsh laughter sounded in response once more. Starscream aimed his Vulcan cannon at the young scout's torso, a malicious smirk on his facial plates. "Well then, you won't mind if I open fire as a nice departure gift, now would you?" he jeered.

Bumblebee froze, as well as Val. The teen felt terrified tears begin to stream down her cheeks as she realized her only two options; either she was going to be shot to death or put through some kind of torture by that Starscream figure.

A rush of air escaped Bumblebee's vent as he lowered his hand to the ground. "As I've said before," began the scout, his voice and expression cool as liquid nitrogen, "I have—" He interrupted himself by suddenly launching forward, tackling Starscream's midsection and effectively knocking the much bigger Cybertronian over. "—Nothing you'll ever get!"

The Seeker screeched with surprise as his legs were swept from beneath him, his helm making contact with the unforgiving metal floor. He snarled and struggled to get up off of his flat, triangular back. Cybertronian curses flew out of his vocal processors at rapid speeds.

Bumblebee spared a glance towards the general direction of where he'd left Val on the ground. "Run!" he shouted, right before receiving a hard left hook from a furious Starscream.

Val hesitated for a moment, giving Bumblebee a pained look before sprinting away, behind the vats of energon, behind foreign and alien machines she had never before seen or imagined, behind whatever cover she could find. She did her best to ignore the twinge of pain surging through her knee as she ran.

'_Wait… Starscream__..._' Val internally snarled. That was the bastard who'd killed her parents.

Crashes sounded, successfully interrupting her hate-filled thoughts. The teen felt guilty and horrible for leaving her guardian behind with that monster, but he'd told her to run… A loud scream of agony filled her ears and she paused in her escape. That sounded like Bumblebee...

Despite her better judgment and primitive instinct to run, Val crept back to the closest energon vat and peeked out around it. Bumblebee was receiving a thrashing from Starscream. The Decepticon was holding him by his leg, throwing the scout around before finally releasing him into a wall. Val winced and inched closer. She felt compelled to help her golden guardian, but what could a puny human do against that giant robot?

The teen was torn between joy and horror as she realized the answer: She could serve as a distraction. Val resisted the urge to groan. Of course Fate was going to be a bitch and make that the only way. She couldn't believe she was actually going to do this…

'_For Mom and Dad.'_

Taking a deep breath, Val stepped out from her hiding spot and slipped off her right shoe, a size five, plain white Lo Pro Vans brand sneaker. She stepped forward and hurled the white textile and rubber accessory at Starscream, making sure to put all her strength into the throw. She yelped as a sharp pain jolted through her dislodged shoulder.

The shoe harmlessly bounced off the Decepticon's leg armor, not even leaving a scuff mark. Regardless of the pathetic amount of power put behind the throw, he whirled around, fiery red optics searching for the being who dared to even touch him with that filthy piece of organic apparel.

Crimson oculars zeroed in on the young and tanned femme human that had cried out, a youngling by the looks of it, with chestnut-colored eyes and mahogany tinted hair. She was slightly trembling while holding her indifferent façade as well as her apparently injured shoulder. Contrasting her calm expression, Starscream's scans confirmed that the human's heart rate had elevated rapidly, signaling the release of adrenaline into her blood; the fight or flight instinct kicking in. According to the picture in his internal memory banks, this was not the specified human they were looking for.

An evil grin plastered itself on the Decepticon's face as he charged up his Vulcan cannon. That meant he could kill it. This pathetic fleshling was not going to live after an idiotic stunt like that…

Bumblebee staggered up, using the wall for support as he stood. His hydraulics squealed in protest, but neither Starscream nor Val seemed to notice his movement.

"Ever wonder what death might be like, human?" asked Starscream in a taunting tone. Val stood her ground and took a deep, hitched breath, carefully watching the goliath metal creature's movements. "N-No, and I don't plan on dying anytime soon," she stated in a loud but shaky voice. The Decepticon laughed and aimed his cannon at the teen. "So bold yet so _weak_; Fleshlings really are feeble and worthless creatures," he said, still grinning victoriously, "And not to mention completely witless."

An electronic snarl sounded from behind Starscream as Bumblebee pounced forward, gripping the Seeker's left wing. His weight began to contort the metal, bending it and causing Starscream to live up to his designated English name. Val covered her ears as an incredibly loud burst of noise escaped the Decepticon's vocal processor, rendering her ears in a constant ringing sensation. "Fuckin' A," she hissed, her teeth grinding in her mouth. That thing was _loud_.

Starscream whirled around, flinging the golden scout off of his wing. It seemed as if he was about to retaliate against the Autobot, but he paused for a moment, gaining a distant expression, before that poisonous smile overtook his facial plates again.

Heavy footfalls sounded in the hallway, the voice shouting, "Bumblebee! I'm coming!"

The Decepticon sneered before meeting optics with Bumblebee. "I'll finish you later," he simply stated before taking off through the doorway, transforming as he past the threshold. Shots were fired off after the F-22 from cannons of massive size, curses following soon afterward. Bumblebee saw Ironhide run past the doorway, his Gatling lasers shooting off missiles at a rapid pace.

The scout forced himself up and limped over to Val, carefully picking her up in his cleaner hand as he scanned over the teen for injuries. "Are you alright?" he asked, vocal processor strained. Val inclined her head to nod, but froze, brown eyes widening with horror. The teen pointed out at something behind Bumblebee, ready to scream.

Her shriek never came. An explosion sounded instead.

* * *

_All I can say is I'M SORRY! _


	8. Modifications

_Dear sweet Jesus... This school year was extremely harsh for me, from classes from Hell to deaths of people close to me to being deceived over and over again by people I thought were my friends... It was really tough. But I've pushed through it and mustered up some inspiration to write again. I made a chapter longer than usual to at least somewhat make up for the time I've been gone. I'm terribly sorry to everyone who's been following this story, or any of my other works. If you are reading this, thank you for being patient. I really do appreciate it. I apologize, and thank you once again. _

_Transformers/Iron Man don't belong to me. _

_Enjoy.  
_

* * *

_Chapter Seven _

Fiery hot air burst up from the explosion at Bumblebee's feet, searing Val's skin the instant it made contact. The teen swallowed down the burning heat and soot as she gasped to breathe, only earning her a scorched throat as the hot air rushed into her system. Bumblebee crashed against something, most likely an Energon vat, and landed hard on his back. A clearly audible crack accompanied the snapping off of one of his door wings, soon followed by the scout's loud, static-laden screech of pain. During that split second, Val had slipped from his grasp and made a harsh impact with the floor, the horrid sound of tender flesh and bone smacking into the cold, hard ground filling both of the individuals' auditory systems.

This time, Val did scream.

White-hot pain came from everywhere; her burnt esophagus and soot-filled lungs, her back, which felt like it had shattered into a thousand different pieces, her arms, her head... The teen was paralyzed by the absolute pain, the feeling so intense that all she could do was scream bloody murder until her lungs gave out.

Bumblebee crawled over, his left leg completely gone and the rest of his body scorched black. The scout glanced down and winced at the damage; not only was his left leg gone, but half of his right leg as well. Energon was seeping from the severed fuel lines, leaving a trail of glowing blue fluid on the floor. Bumblebee's vents groaned as he switched off all the pain receptors from his waist down, slowing the Energon flow to his lower body as well. He began to frantically try and set up a com link connecting to Ratchet. The scout received a static-filled transmission confirming that the medic was on his way. Apparently the Decepticons were retreating already. With that reassurance in mind, Bumblebee scanned the room for the being that had dared fire that missile. He just caught sight of a familiar silver Audi burning rubber down the hallway in a hasty getaway. The scout growled furiously and vowed to regain vengeance on the mech before focusing his attention on his injured charge.

Val was barely convulsing in pain, strangled wails of agony escaping her singed throat. Bumblebee, clueless as to what to do, pulled himself over the teen in a protective position, all the while scanning over Val's internals. The girl wasn't in good shape from what he could tell.

A few moments later, a bright yellow Hummer sped inside, not even bothering to stop as he transformed. A blue ray emitted from the elder mech's optics as he scanned over Bumblebee. "You—"

"No." The youngling dragged himself backwards to reveal Val's injured form. "Her first."

Ratchet's optics widened as he surveyed the teenager's now still form. "Dear Primus…" he muttered, a whole list of injuries scrolling down the right side of his internal scanner. The medic didn't even make it halfway through the list before he started to carefully pick up the injured teen. "We need to get her to the med bay immediately," he murmured, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. It would not bode well if he told the scout just how life-threatening the injuries were. The medic glanced down at Bumblebee with hardened optics. "As well as you." Bumblebee grabbed on to a nearby Energon vat and began to pull himself up, attempting to stand. Ratchet immediately held up a hand. "Stop. Don't strain anything," he warned. The scout gave a small confused click before slumping back against the surface of the vat, his dirtied golden helm bowing in defeat.

Ratchet held Val close to his chest and connected to Ironhide's com channel. **Ironhide, report to the Energon storage chamber. Bumblebee needs a transport to the med bay.** The medic stood and quickly started out of the room, holding Val very carefully. If he jarred her anymore… Ratchet would rather not think of what could possibly happen. A snarling Ironhide brushed past the medic, obviously peeved that Starscream had gotten away. Ratchet hissed and snapped at the mech in Cybertronian, instantly scanning over Val for anymore recently acquired injuries. Ironhide merely rolled his optics at the mech before gingerly picking up Bumblebee. The scout crossed his arms and started to click quietly to himself, only silencing when Ironhide gave him a warning look.

Curses of both the English and Cybertronian language began to fly out of Ratchet's vocal processor as Val fell unconscious, heart rate becoming erratic. He hunched over the teen's form so no one could scan over her and darted to the med bay as fast as he could without adding to the human's list of injuries. If Bumblebee found out what was happening…

Ratchet gently placed the teen's frail form on a berth he normally used for the injured NEST soldiers and activated his holoform beside her, his mech self gathering medical supplies while the holoform began to quickly hook Val up to an oxygen supply and the other necessary devices to improve her chances of survival. The medic didn't bother to look as Ironhide burst in with a frantic Bumblebee. After he had gathered all of the needed supplies, Ratchet paused for a moment and glanced back at the two. Bumblebee was still trying to get out of Ironhide's grasp, desperately trying to see how Val was doing. The medic went back to his work and quietly murmured, "Ironhide, you know where the sedatives are."

Bumblebee's optics widened and he began to protest, squirming in the bigger mech's grip as he tried to get away to check on his charge. Ironhide grunted as the scout delivered a blow to his side, but kept a firm grip on him as he grabbed the sedative injector. "Sorry 'Bee," he murmured solemnly before injecting the liquid sedative into the young scout's system. Bumblebee continued to struggle for a few more seconds before succumbing to the sedative's power and falling limp in his elder's arms. Ironhide sighed and shook his helm before looking back at Ratchet.

The medic was deep into his work now, beginning his desperate attempts to at least keep the human's internal systems stable. He swore loudly, throwing a scalpel to the floor, and looked up at Ironhide, a grim expression on his face. "I… I can't save her."

The weapons specialist's expression hardened. He knew that wasn't it. Ratchet would never say anything if he was about to lose a patient, and he would most definitely not be so calm. "You know of a way to save her, don't you? What are you hiding?" he asked suspiciously, blunt as always. The yellow-green mech remained quiet for a few moments before sending all the modifications and blueprints of his plan to Ironhide, awaiting the other's opinion. Ironhide's optics narrowed as he read over his comrade's suggestion. It seemed much too thought out to have been created on the spot. Ratchet cut off the mech before he could say anything. "I'll explain later. Now should I go through with it?" Ironhide straightened and looked his fellow soldier in the optic. "Do you think you can do it?" he questioned. The medic nodded once, replying, "Yes." The black mech crossed his arms and nodded back. "Then do it."

* * *

"Valerie?"

The said teen groaned softly and shifted, wincing as something pricked her side. "Watch the IV, child," warned a familiar voice. Giant metal fingers rearranged the teen's form so she was in a more comfortable position. Val winced and slowly opened her eyes. Blue optics met her gaze. A couple pairs of blue optics, actually.

Ironhide was the first to speak. "Congratulations, kid. You just made it through a surgery by Ratchet," he said with slight sarcasm. The black mech was pushed out of view by a peeved-looking Ratchet. He clicked a few curses at the weapons specialist in his native tongue before looking back at Val. "Valerie, do you have feeling in your arms and legs?" he queried.

With a small grunt of pain, Val closed her hands into limp fists and wiggled her feet a little. "Y-Yeah..." she croaked. The teen just wanted to sleep some more, but with the way Ratchet was prodding and poking at her limbs, that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"Huh… I can't believe it actually worked," said a deep, unfamiliar voice. A silver mech with a much smaller stature than all the others slipped forward to inspect the teen at a closer perspective, despite his medic's barking orders to stay away from the patient. "It looks funny… Are you sure you did that right, Doc?" he asked, glancing over his armored shoulder at the fuming lime-green Hummer.

Ratchet pulled Sideswipe back with one hand, yanking the mech away from Val's berth and almost literally tossing him onto a different medical berth. "Sit there and _stay_ there, Sideswipe," growled Ratchet, holding a wrench in one hand. The Corvette slid back a little on the berth and raised both servos in a surrendering position. "Hey now, easy with the medical tools... You don't want to show your violent side to the human child, do you?" asked Sideswipe in a mock-frightened tone.

The lime-green mech grumbled and went back to collect some of the datapads containing copies of Val's scans, and of the original blueprint for her procedure. "If you keep it up, the girl is going to see my violent side and more very soon," grumbled the medic.

Sideswipe merely snickered in response, a triumphant grin plastered on his facial plates.

Val watched the small exchange with slight amusement before resting back and closing her eyes. Whatever Ratchet had done, it had made her extremely tired and sore all over. They kept saying something about a procedure of some sort, a surgery, but what kind of surgery? All she remembered was a big explosion…

"Ratchet?"

The said medic paused in his work and briskly walked over to Val, instantly scanning over her. "Is there something wrong? Are you feeling pain?" questioned the mech. Val slightly shook her head. "No, no. I just have a couple questions."

Ratchet relaxed back and nodded at the teen. "Proceed."

"Um, first, how bad was I hurt? And second… Where are Bumblebee and my dad?"

Ratchet paused for a moment before compiling all of the teenager's injuries into a simple explanation. "You received third degree burns over a great majority of your body, fractured your skull, basically snapped your spinal cord, shattered almost all your limbs, and broke about five ribs, two of which pierced your right artery and left lung." That wasn't all that had happened to Val, but the medic didn't feel it was necessary to go into too much detail; it wasn't like she would understand it anyways. He moved forward and very gently nudged her right arm, once again moving the teen's position. "I had to go through… far, and risky lengths to save you, Valerie. It was something that I've never done before, but if I hadn't, you wouldn't be here right now. Or you would, but you wouldn't be able to speak or move," murmured Ratchet in an uneasy tone.

Val's eyebrow knitted together as she watched the medic. He seemed to be worried about something, but the girl couldn't quite figure out _what_. "Ratchet… What are you talking about?" she asked, looking up at the mech with confusion.

"Haven't you seen the old-timer's handiwork yet? Those things you have are just replacements whipped up in thirty of your Earth minutes, but the real stuff he's making… It's actually pretty fraggin' amazing, I must admit. Kinda weird for a human, but still cool." Sideswipe shifted on his berth so that he was facing the human teen. "I just can't believe he actually got your nerves to calibrate with the—"

The loud, pinging sound of metal on metal rang throughout at the med bay, accompanied by varied curses and reprimanding from Ratchet. Once the medic was able to get Sideswipe to silence his vocal processor and behave, Ratchet turned back to a thoroughly confused Val. "To put it simply, some of your organic parts were pretty much destroyed, and I had to replace them," he stated.

Val exhaled sharply and narrowed her eyes at the medic, looking at him with slight anxiety. "W-With _what?"_ she stuttered.

The medic's answer was simple. "Those."

Ratchet's large but practiced servos carefully lifted the bedding sheet that was previously covering Val from the neck down to reveal the medic's work.

Smooth, silver metal took place of what used to be Val's arms and legs, as well as a good portion of her upper torso. Wires, circuits, and whatever else Ratchet had installed in her limbs were tightly compact, like normal muscles, but were bulky and looked too Cybertronian for the teenager's like. Her digits were long and claw-like, seeming to be able to cut through anything if she touched it; and her legs appeared bird-like, extremely thin at the ankles and looked like they were meant to bend backwards. Bloodied bandages were wrapped tightly around the areas where her organic skin and flesh met pure Cybertronian metal. Random little mechanisms spontaneously whirred within the mechanics of the teenager's new appendages as she began to tremble. Val's breath hitched, a horrified expression consuming her facial features.

Before Val could fit in a word, Ratchet stepped forward and replaced the bed sheet, blocking the teen's view of her prosthetic limbs. "Before you start to hyperventilate, let me explain. Those are just temporary replacements until I can figure out how to calibrate the other prosthetics to respond to the nerve signals sent out by your brain. I assumed that having at least _something_ there would be better than nothing at all," explained the mech in a calm vocal tone. He figured that keeping the girl in a calm atmosphere would possibly help take the edge off of her own emotions.

Val sank back into the makeshift bed of sterilized sheets and took deep, shaky breaths as she tried to comprehend what was going on. It sounded like she broke just about everything in her body except for her brain; great. Apparently, she had lost both her arms and legs to the explosion; even better. And now she looked like a cyborg freak straight out of a horror film; just fantastic.

The teen bit her lip as she slowly lifted her arms up, each move slow and clunky. What was left of her organic shoulder ached in pain, but she continued to lift the bed sheet until it slipped and softly fell into her lap. Val concentrated harder on her movements, maneuvering her new arms down and gently clamping the sheet in her claws. Steadily, the teen brought the piece of fabric back up, but at the last moment, it slipped out of her grasp and flitted back into her lap.

With a sigh, Ratchet moved forward and gently helped Val sit up, bunching up a pile of sheets behind her to serve as a backrest for the girl. He gingerly picked up the bed sheet in her lap with his thumbs and forefingers, and glanced down at Val. The teenager looked completely miserable, her eyes filled with tears and her expression displaying plain despair. His holoform activated beside the human and carefully opened her servos, placing the white fabric in her palm before closing them tightly around the material.

Val slowly brought the fabric to her face and tilted her head down, hiding her ashamed face from the mechs in the med bay. She could _feel_ them watching her every move, especially Ratchet. The medic was sure to be analyzing and taking note of her every reaction and motion. The teen began to take deep breaths as she closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down. There was no need to break down in front of the mechs; it would just prove that she was a weak little human and had little reign over her emotions.

At the warm touch of a hand on her shoulder, the teen glanced up. Ratchet's holoform was looking down at her with an expression of sympathy. "As for your other question," he began, "Bumblebee is currently in recharge on—"

"Ah, not anymore, Doc," interrupted Sideswipe.

Ratchet's holoform scowled and crossed his arms, grumbling a few curses under his breath as he disappeared. The medical mech turned around and searched for the scout's bright yellow armor.

Bumblebee was situated beside Sideswipe, giving the medic a sheepish grin as he began to scoot behind his silver comrade. Sideswipe rolled his electric blue optics, but made no move to stop the youngling's pitiful attempt to hide behind him.

With a sharp exhale of his vents, the neon yellow-green mech swiftly grabbed a small wrench and chucked it in their general direction. A satisfying _clank_ rang throughout the air, followed by a small electronic yelp. Ratchet walked over to Bumblebee, who was currently rubbing the new dent in his helm with a pouty expression. "Next time I tell you to stay in bed, I expect you to do so," he scolded, arms crossed over his chassis. The medic took a quick peek back at Val, who was still looking downright depressed, before switching over to his com link. **Look, Valerie is going through something very tough for a human her age, and she's going to need a slag of a lot of support.** He fixated Sideswipe with a heated glare. **And I swear to Primus, if you make this any harder for her… **The Corvette slightly shrugged, leaning away from the medic. **Hey, I think it looks cool. I never said anything negative, did I? **That earned the twin with a slap to the back of his helm. While Sideswipe proceeded cursing out loud, Ratchet continued. **Just… don't say anything that might offend the child. Humans are especially sensitive to the opinions of others at this age. And do **_**not**_** stare. Understood? **Both of the younger mechs nodded and glanced at Val simultaneously before looking back up at Ratchet.

Satisfied with the results, Ratchet turned his back to the two mechs and activated his holoform beside Val once again. "As you can see, Bumblebee is just fine. He can't transform for a few days and needs to rest his legs as much as possible today and tomorrow. As for Mr. Stark…" He trailed off and gave the two younger Autobots behind him a pointed glare. Bumblebee and Sideswipe quickly looked away and turned to face the opposite side of the med bay, conversing over a private com link.

"He was… He was taken by the Decepticons. I am very terribly sorry, Valerie," murmured Ratchet in a sorrowful tone. He placed a hand on the teen's good shoulder and very gently squeezed it. "We are already searching—"

Val squirmed and shrugged off Ratchet's hand, slowly shaking her head. "No… N-No… Dad's here on base… Y-You're lying. You're lying!" she accused, eyes narrowed at the holoform. Her metal digits sliced through the thin medical berth sheet as she clenched her servos into fists. He stepped back, a solemn expression on his face. "I know it is hard to comprehend this at the moment in your condition, but…he is gone. Valerie, I am not lying to you. He was grabbed by Blackout during the retreat. None of us were in the vicinity at the time; there was nothing we could do."

The teen's rage quickly gave way to despair as her shoulders slumped, shuddering slightly as she began to heave with heavy sobs. Ratchet's holoform slowly inched closer to the girl, and once sure that she wouldn't lash out at him, he ever so gently enveloped the human in his arms. The holoform shushed her quietly, calm thanks to thousands of years of dealing with patients after issuing out heartbreaking news. Ratchet's true form glanced back at Bumblebee and Sideswipe, a weary expression on his mechanical visage. Both mechs were looking on quietly, the two Autobots frowning. The young fighters glanced at each other before their electric blue optics flickered back over to the medic and teen.

A few moments later, the scout's holoform appeared at Val's side. He sat at the teen's side and carefully stroked her cheek, wiping away her tears. His other hand gently rested on Val's servo as he watched her, pained to see his charge in such a state. Sideswipe's holoform sat on the opposite side of the berth, one hand placed on the teenager's thigh as he watched his other two holographic companions. He wasn't necessarily fond of the human or any humans in general, but Bumblebee had insisted that he do something to try and help calm the girl. Since the youngling scout was considered the little brother of the Autobot family, Sideswipe felt obliged to help him even if it meant making contact with a human.

Val blinked through her tears and glanced around her at the trio of holoforms. Each face was watching her with mixed emotions, but her gaze eventually settled on the one that was most familiar. Sobs reduced to mere sniffling, the teen closed her eyes and let her head rest against Bumblebee's hand. The holoform continued to wipe the few lingering tears still remaining on his charge's cheeks before leaning forward and softly kissing her forehead. "Don't worry. We'll get him back soon.

"I promise."


End file.
